When We're Sixty Four
by An-Twan Star
Summary: The mane six have always been a tight knit group of ponies. Now forty years down the road, things have changed. Grey hairs and grand fillies now dominate, and old friendships have frayed. With a magician now moving into a nursing home and an old explorer returning home, will equestria be able to handle these ponies once again. Written for National Pony Writing Month.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors notes:**

This is a My Little Pony story written for the national pony writing month on _Equestria Daily_. The idea is not to be perfect but to get any story ideas you have down on paper in the month of August.

All characters mentioned in this story apart from my own are property of Lauren Faust, Hasbro, and DHX Media Vancouver.

Any other labels and/or elements from the real world are property of their respective owners. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended.

Any reviews/suggestions or general feedback will be gladly accepted.

Welcome to the first chapter of_ When We're Sixty Four._

* * *

"C'mon Twilight, you can't go in there with all those old-timers."

Twilight Sparkle looked over top her spectacles at the speaker and spoke in a slightly condescending tone.

"Yes I can Sweetie, I'm _Sixty-five_."

The mentioned white unicorn arched her eyebrows in irritation.

"Just _because _you are that age doesn't mean you belong in a nursing home, and I'm not exactly young either!"

"Retirement community. I read all about them in this book, _Retirement Communities For Foals,_ its such a great read!" Twilight held the book up for Sweetie Belle to see.

"Retirement Communities for Foals, are you kidding me!" Sweetie cried.

"She's not joking."

Behind the two mares was a purple dragon, Twilight's number one assistant and co-proprietor of the Branches and Books library, Spike.

The two mares paid no heed to the dragon as they continued their argument.

"Yes, Retirement Communities for Foals, I have the whole series," Twilight proclaimed proudly.

"There's an entire series? Oh come on!" Sweetie shouted.

"Yes! And they are very well written and informative."

"Well written, huh. Show me that book!"

Two horns flared and the air was alight with magic as Spike watched the two grown mares fight over the book like, well, foals. Spike threw his arms up in despair.

"Ugh, here we go again."

"Let me see it, I wanna see it!"

"Its _my _book!"

The two pulled back and fourth, the book flying all over the place.

"Twilight!" Spike yelled.

"What?!"

"You two have to stop pulling or!"

The poor book suddenly stopped moving, each mare magically gripping the cover. Without anywhere for the strain to go, the book simply tore in half.

"Break the binding," Spike finished.

Twilight stared, not quite comprehending that a book, one of her books, had fallen. Without a word, she grabbed the other half from Sweetie's now limp grasp, and cast a repair spell. A line where the repair on the well worn book took place was still visible. They both continued to glare at one another.

Twilight then began to look around as if lost in thought.

"Now what was I here for," Twilight tapped on her chin.

"Uh, Twi?" Spike pointed a claw at the building in the distance.

"Oh yeah. Retirement here I come!"

The last words were drowned out as Twilight teleported to the front door of the building, took a moment to adjust her mane, and went inside. Spike and Sweetie Belle stared after her for a few seconds, until Spike tried to start a conversation.

"So," Spike scratched the back of his neck while looking around. "Quite the turnout for Twilight's retirement."

"Hold on, hold on, let me get this straight. Twilight read about nurs..., retirement communities in a book, and just decided to live at one."

"Just give her a week, okay. She always does this at certain points of life."

"Did she just decide to get a cutie mark too."

"No."

"Didn't think so."

"But this is Twilight we're talking about, You remember when she tried to have a midlife crisis, right?"

"How could _anypony_ forget that."

Spike changed the topic.

"Anyway, how's the radio station coming along?"

"Its as good as it will ever be, aaand," Sweetie held up her gold Marex hoof watch, "I have to get to my shift."

Sweetie Belle departed, grumbling about how nopony would ever drag her off to a nursing home when she was older. This left Spike alone on the street.

He looked out over the cityscape. In the forty years that Spike had lived in Ponyville, progress had taken its toll. Old domiciles went down. Apartments had popped up. The town hall had been rebuilt(with flaws). Something about a 'contractor with poor hoof-eye coordination' Spike had heard. The few oldest buildings that remained belonged to the Cakes, the Apples, and Rarity. Apart from the Apple Family's homestead, Twilight's tree library was the oldest building.

"Looks like its my Library now," Spike thought sullenly.

As he got closer to downtown, the morning sun was blocked out by a cloud structure hovering overhead. This was most definitely noticed by Spike.

"Aww come on, I haven't warmed up yet, I hate early mornings."

With a quick jog Spike reached the edge of the shade. Looking back at the offender in the sky, Spike saw that it was Rainbow Dash's old house. The Ex-Wonderbolt's cloud had fallen into disrepair after she moved on from Ponyville all those years ago, evidenced by the inoperative rainbow fountain and general decay of the water vapor structure.

Seeing the house silhouetted by Celestia's sunlight brought back all the fond memories of Dash, and reminded him of the current Twilight situation, causing him to speak some very inevitable words.

"What would Rainbow Dash do?"

* * *

_Meanwhile, in the wilds of South Equestria._

The same sun that was a boon for Spike was only just peeking above the Volcanic Ranges of South Equestria. In between the mountains, the jungles were already rolling with humid steam. This was cat country, and the cats had carved out a fragile existence in the region, with hunter-gatherers venturing into the jungle for meat and herbs, and farmers would plant crops up on the cooler slopes for later consumption.

Up on one of the scenic overlooks sat a car, a Griffon invention, and an expensive classic to boot, a Porsche 911 S. Seeing a car like this, one would most likely think two things.

One. The Pony had deep pockets, and two, they had competent driving skills. The rainbow maned mare that owned it had both. She didn't really care for the former though. Rainbow Dash was very frugal, the only things permanent in her life were the 911, her first and only car, her Wonderbolt flight suit, always worn, and her beloved pet tortoise, Tank.

Rainbow Dash was slumped against the wheel asleep. The morning sun just began to tickle her muzzle as she stirred slightly. Her dreams were like a kaleidoscope of her life. Wonderbolts, military, racing, griffons, friends, lost pony civilizations, priceless artifacts. Yet something was nagging her to wake.

She stirred slightly and fell back asleep.

Celestia's sun rose slightly higher above the mountainous horizon.

Rainbow Dash's tired red eyes snapped open as something pushed against her side.

"Beautiful sunrise," she spoke softly. "Nice one, Commander."

After her retirement from the Wonderbolts, she had moved to the south to pursue her other passion, exploration. Ever since Dash read Daring Do, it had been her dream to find and explore every temple and old ruin she could find. First with flight, and more with the car as she aged. But things were slowing down for Rainbow Dash, The urge to explore was still there, but there was simply nothing left to explore. When she first arrived, It was uncharted wilderness. Noe all anypony really had to do to get to South Equestria was book a flight and be there in a few hours.

"Ugh, what did I have to do next?" Rainbow began to slump against the wheel once more.

In the seat next to her was the pet tortoise, Tank, who was lightly tapping at the door. Rainbow Dash spoke out.

"Hey there, tank."

Tank continued to tap lethargically at the door.

"Huh? What do you need?"

Tank slowly pointed a foot at the sun, then slowly toward the door.

It suddenly dawned on Rainbow Dash.

"Tank!" She suddenly shot up. "You need heat! Here, I'll find you a nice spot."

Rainbow Dash opened the door and with speed belying her age hopped onto the ground. She was quickly reminded why Equines belonged on four legs, though. Ignoring the pain from her lower back, she limped around the nose of her car to the passenger side. Once there, she opened the door and used her wing as a ramp for Tank to climb up onto her shoulders. The tortoise gladly accepted.

"Alright, just come up the wing and gah!" The added weight of Tank popped Rainbow Dash's back into place.

"Heh, I can always count on you, Tank."

Moving quickly and carefully, Dash carried Tank out of the wooded parking area to a large flat boulder by the cliff. Using her wing as a ramp once more, Tank shuffled off onto the boulder and stretched out. Seeing her pet comfy, Rainbow trotted back to her car to retrieve breakfast and some road maps.

Breakfast was slim pickens, a granola bar and cactus petals for Tank. She knew that he had to be warm enough or he would not eat, so getting comfy on the rock was the best option to pass the time.

Hopping up on the rock, Rainbow set down her things and popped open a bottle of water. She took a swig, and then another, and basked in the sun that she could feel right through her specially insulated flight suit. After watching the sun burn for some time, Dash opened the bar and unrolled the maps to plot their next adventure.

Biting the granola bar, Rainbow Dash poured over possible routes to take but none stood out, All paths had been traveled, others were tourist traps, and some simply didn't exist anymore.

"Nope."

"Nope."

"Doesn't exist."

"Too dangerous?" she glanced at Tank

He slowly shook his head.

Never question Tank.

Finding nothing but frustration, Rainbow Dash stood up and unfurled her old wings, sure that taking a flight would clear her head. She gave a flap, sending the map flying. Reaching the cliff, Rainbow got ready to jump into flight but stopped at the sound of a voice.

"Just where are you gonna fly to, _Rainbow_."

Rainbow Dash spun around, immediately on guard. South Equestria was a beautiful place, but it wasn't exactly crime free either. She stayed completely still, listening for even the slightest threat, years of romping through the jungle had instilled this ethos. Rainbow, however, quickly established that she truly was alone. Tank stared questioningly.

Deciding that she was probably lapsing into early senility, Rainbow Dash went back to the rock, but stopped. On the ground was the map. It had landed in such a way that the center of the map was only visible. The map was filled with hi-lighted roads, telling of many past adventures, except one. The last one. The drive would be long, but worth it.

"Yes, yes, that'll do."

Rainbow Dash picked up the map and went to the rock to find Tank feeding on the cactus petals. Seeing that things were now going right, Rainbow sat down and laid out her game plan. With hi-lighter in mouth, she began tracing the route out.

"Alright Tank," Rainbow spoke through the marker. "Celestia knows that all we are doing is here is getting older, but we're still cool! Got it."

The tortoise stared at Rainbow. She began to pace like a drill instructor.

"Now, the journey will be long, and we may not make it. But that's not the point! We will make it! And it will be awesome!"

Tank was not amused.

"Eheh, um." Rainbow scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Let's go to Ponyville," she offered.

Tank looked back at the empty food basket.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you want more."

He continued to stare at the basked, then turned his nose up.

"Good, cuz we got some pavement to pound."

Rainbow Dash began grabbing up their picnic and shuttled the supplies back to the car. Tank meanwhile slowly made his way there. Once there, Rainbow got onto her back legs and placed a fore hoof in the front and back of Tank's shell. Getting a feel for his weight, Rainbow Dash quickly lifted Tank into the passenger seat and closed the door. Still on back legs, Dash went around to the other side and got in the car herself.

"Okay, moment of truth."

Rainbow Dash turned the key in the ignition and hoped above hope that her old, high-mileage 911 would start for the trip.

It started on the second crank.

Rainbow sat and let the air-cooled flat six engine reach operating temperature. Her car, to make operation easier, had been fitted with adaptive parts to make it easier for equines to operate. Even with these aids, it was still obvious what species the car had been built for, and Rainbow Dash, over the years, had developed her own little system for operation.

Rainbow looked over at Tank.

"Ready to roll?"

Tank stared.

"Oh, right, it might save my flank some day."

Rainbow Dash put on her seat belt and strapped Tank in as well.

Having satisfied the tortoise, Dash grabbed her sunglasses and put her car in gear. She took one last look at what was considered a second home, and pulled out onto the road.

To Ponyville.


	2. Chapter 2

Back in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle had entered the lobby of the nursing home. She looked around at the plain white walls of the building. In the middle of the floor was a large rug with the Celestial Crest on it. Plodding across the carpet, Twilight went over to the Receptionist desk. As she walked, a slight limp could be seen. The pony manning the desk continued to type at his computer, eventually looking up from the screen.

"Can I _help _you?"

With practiced precision, Twilight Sparkle began her 'acceptance' speech.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, and I'm here for my retirement."

The Receptionist leaned on his desk with a hoof and stared flatly.

"Your _retirement_?"

"Yes, my retirement at the Ponyville Retirement Community," Twilight answered with confidence.

"Can you show me some identification?"

Twilight produced her I.D. and a medical history paper that she was irresponsibly using as a bookmark and passed them to the secretary. He reviewed these and inputted some numbers into his computer. After doing this, the papers were hoofed back.

"First," the pony behind the desk held up his hoof. "This is a nursing home, not a retirement community. And second, you must have a reason to be here."

Twilight moved closer to the desk, this time with a very exaggerated limp.

"Oh, ah, I have this nasty limp that's been bugging me for the longest time, owww," she beseeched.

"I saw you teleport to the door."

"I, um," Twilight looked around nervously. "I _am _a unicorn. Gotta keep my skills up, right?"

Twilight gave a massive fake smile.

The desk-pony continued with sarcasm.

"Yeah, you do gotta keep your skills up, especially in the older years." Twilight bucked her head up with pride. "But you won't be doing any of that, _here." _

Twilight's face and ears fell. Any hope of actually retiring was beginning to fade for the mage. She was just about to give up and leave when the receptionist spoke up.

"Look, I know who you are, and you have done a lot for Equestria. We'll take you in, find you a room, and get somepony to take a look at that limp, alright."

Hope lit up in Twilight's eyes.

"But we're assisted living, not a charity case. If we can't find a valid medical reason for you to be here in the next thirty days, then we have to let you go, fair enough?"

"Yes, Thank you."

The pony stared for a second, then nodded his head at the hallway leading into the facility.

"Just head on back and somepony will be around shortly to show you around."

With that, Twilight turned and went down the hall. As she passed, the receptionist actually got to see the title of the books she was carrying.

_Retirement Communities for Foals._

His eyebrows shot up as he realized that this was _Twilight Sparkle_, she wrote letters to the Princesses. With some concern, the receptionist reached for the intercom button on his phone.

"Yes, can you show Ms. Sparkle to her room. Uh huh. Yeah, those two can go together."

As he put down his phone, one thought ran through the pony's mind.

_'Well Ms. Sparkle, you want a friendship problem? You got it, and she's three doors down.'_

Down the hall, Twilight stood and waited. She took a mild interest in some of the artwork displayed on the walls. After some time, a staff member found Twilight.

"Ms. Sparkle?"

Twilight turned to meet the pony.

"I'll be taking you on a tour of the facility and then show you your room."

Twilight followed the mare, whose name she did not get, deeper in. On the tour, she was shown stuff like the cafeteria, main lounge, and living spaces. She was also shown the inner workings of a nursing home in the morning. Staff and doctors moved from door to door to check on patients within and those tenants who were still physically able were getting out to meet the day. Twilight even caught a glimpse of the gardens in the back. All and all, the tour went well for her.

Until the library.

The library was fairly modest, mostly comprised of old medical references from the time before computers, but in Twilight's mind this was all she needed. Once in the library doors, the mage trotted all the way to the back shelves to see just how many books there were.

"Wow, a lot of books here!" Twilight shouted to her guide from across the library.

Twilight disappeared between the shelves, only her voice could be heard filtering though as she admired the collection. The insane sounding ramblings continued until Twilight found something interesting. She popped out with her prize held above her horn.

"A Horst's Medical Journal, I haven't seen one of these in years!" Twilight flexed the book for emphasis, then went back in the shelves.

"These books really need sorting and I'm just the mare for that," in an instant books began flying off the shelves in a symphony of sorting.

"Ms Sparkle!"

"Yes?" Twilight answered sweetly, a ball of books swirling above her head.

"I can assure you that the books have been sorted properly. Now, lets show you your room."

"Okay."

With magic, the ball of books found its way back onto the shelves, unsorted this time. As they left, Twilight gave one last glance at the library.

"You can come back later," the guide reminded her.

"Right."

The final part of the tour took Twilight into a much older part of the building, which she immediately recognized as once being the old hospital that Rainbow Dash had spent some time at with her wing injury. How times had changed. Twilight reflected on this as their hooves clopped on the hardwood floors. This was welcome to the unicorn, who actually lived in a hollowed out tree. Eventually they reached the room.

"Here's your room, alright. And here's your key."

Twilight was handed the key. As it was passed, she noticed that an air of uneasiness had overcome her guide, who was glancing around nervously.

"There is a schedule on the inside of the door with meal times and activities, ok. Have a nice day."

With that, Twilight's guide took of down the hall.

"Um, thanks."

Twilight unlocked the door and began to twist the handle, but thought better of it. With a thought she teleported away.

It was high noon, she had a library to visit.

About nine hours later, Twilight Sparkle came back to her room, magically pushing along a rolling cart literally stuffed with books. She did not teleport, remembering that there were laws against that in public and commercial structures. Her trip to the library hadn't quite gone to plan, with Twilight being sidetracked to the cafeteria for lunch. After that, she explored the library and helped to sort almost all of the books beginning with the word 'the'.

Opening the door, Twilight rolled the cart in and took a look around. The room consisted of basic necessities, a bed, bathroom, and television that she would most likely never turn on. The last rays of the day were filtering into the room through the windows. Twilight moved the cart next to the bed and trotted to the windows to see the skyline.

Twilight had befallen Ponyville, her Ponyville. She had spent so much time here that she knew the name of every building and street in town. She also knew exactly how tall the new city hall was, and how many cobblestones were in Mane Street. The mage decided it was time to fill out her post-retirement checklist.

"Spike, take a letter."

With no response, Twilight got ready to yell for Spike when she remembered that the dragon wasn't even here.

"Right, he's not here." Twilight pulled out a pad of paper. "Before I do my post-retirement checklist I better review my pre-retirement checklist."

Opening the first page, she began.

"Step one. Reach sixty-five. Check."

A shadow passed by the open door that went unnoticed by Twilight.

"Step two. Pass the library and all the books inside down to my number one assistant, Spike. Check."

The sound of of a key going into a lock and a door opening still wasn't enough to stop twilight.

"Step three. Have the whole town of Ponyville see me off as I retire, I had _quite_ the turnout. Check."

"Step four."

A door slamming down the hall snapped Twilight out of her checklist bliss. Trotting to the door, she looked around to see who was out there.

"Now I thought that all of these rooms were...," Twilight looked down the hall. "Empty?"

All the rooms were indeed empty, except one.

_Three doors down._

Figuring that it was just another tenant, Twilight went back in and closed the door, plunging the room into darkness. Then she remembered one basic thing. There were no hoofsteps, something not that uncommon in a nursing home. But coming to this hypothesis just after being plunged into darkness can work wonders in the mind of a pony.

With a nervous squeak, Twilight quickly summoned a flashlight spell. A small beam of light projected out of her horn onto the opposing wall.

"Okay Twilight, there is no way that is what you think it is. Now find that light switch, and stop panicking."

Twilight looked around the entry for the switch. She got ready to go around the corner into the rest of the room when a book on top of her rolling cart fell onto the ground. Twilight slowly stuck her head around the corner and shined the light on the book sitting on the ground. Also seeing the swich on the wall, she flicked it on.

With a click, Twilight's light spell dissipated and she picked up the fallen book. The mage reasoned that it would be impossible for anypony to just sneak by, not on hardwood floors like the one under her hooves. Twilight pondered the events aloud.

"No hooves clopping, no talons scraping, no wheels turning. This old hospital could very well be..."

Twilight almost spat out the word.

"Haunted."


End file.
